Crowder Wanted To Leave Dallas
Rockets owner Leslie Alexander plans to be more active in the team’s offseason moves, according to Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com. Alexander gave GM Daryl Morey a vote of confidence this week but said he will take a more hands-on role in overhauling a roster that produced a disappointing 41-41 record and the eighth seed in the West. “I think I will change a little bit,” Alexander said. “More scrutiny and what they’re doing. I was thinking about doing it anyway but after this season, definitely.” Among Houston’s decisions will be whether to retain interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff, who posted a 37-34 record after taking over for Kevin McHale in November. Alexander didn’t commit to keeping Bickerstaff, but did toss a compliment his way. “He’s got a winning record,” Alexander said, “which is good from where he started.”
There’s more from the Southwest Division:
- Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry is hoping for a fresh start next season after a disastrous first year in New Orleans, writes Justin Verrier of ESPN.com. Gentry was hired to take the next step with the Pelicans after they claimed the final playoff spot in 2014/15, but the team was slowed by a long string of misfortune. New Orleans players ended the season with 351 games missed due to injuries and illness, the second-highest total in the past decade. Looking ahead, Gentry has a vision for the type of player he wants to acquire in the offseason. “I think we need that 6’7″ athletic guy that can also be somewhat of a facilitator,” he said. “As to names, I have no idea who that is, but I know that he’s out there. And so that would be obviously a priority for us.”
- The Spurs became a better defensive team after trading Tiago Splitter and signing LaMarcus Aldridge, according to Matthew Tynan of RealGM. Splitter is considered the better defender, but Aldridge has more range and mobility, Tynan notes, which gives Tim Duncan the more natural role of rim protector.
- Jae Crowder, who has emerged as a star in Boston, couldn’t wait to get out of Dallas, writes Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. Before being included in the 2014 trade that brought Rajon Rondo to the Mavericks, Crowder was frustrated by a lack of playing time, two trips to the D-League and Dallas’ signings of Al-Farouq Aminu, Chandler Parsons and Richard Jefferson.
2015/16 D-League Usage Report: Celtics
The NBA’s relationship with the D-League continues to grow, and this season a total of 19 NBA teams have one-to-one affiliations with D-League clubs. Those NBA organizations without their own affiliates were required to assign players to D-League clubs associated with other NBA franchises. D-League teams could volunteer to take on the assigned players, and if no volunteers emerged, the players were assigned at random.
This significant change from the 2014/15 season came about after the Pacers purchased the Fort Wayne Mad Ants and turned them into their one-to-one partner for the 2015/16 campaign. Other NBA teams have interest in following suit in the years ahead, and the NBA’s ultimate goal for the D-League is for all 30 NBA franchises to have their own D-League squads. You can view the complete list of D-League affiliates here.
We at Hoops Rumors will be recapping the D-League-related activity for the 2015/16 campaign for each team, and we’ll continue onward with the the Boston Celtics, whose D-League affiliate is the Maine Red Claws:
The Celtics made 39 assignments for the 2015/16 campaign, sending five different players to the D-League for a total of 127 days. Listed below are all the assignments and recalls made by Boston for the 2015/16 campaign:
- November 3rd: Assigned Jordan Mickey (1st) — Recalled November 5th
- November 3rd: Assigned James Young (1st) — Recalled November 5th
- November 8th: Assigned Jordan Mickey (2nd) — Recalled November 11th
- November 8th: Assigned James Young (2nd) — Recalled November 9th
- November 11th: Assigned James Young (3rd) — Recalled November 11th
- November 12th: Assigned Jordan Mickey (3rd) — Recalled November 15th
- November 12th: Assigned James Young (4th) — Recalled November 15th
- November 14th: Assigned Terry Rozier (1st) — Recalled November 15th
- November 19th: Assigned James Young (5th) — Recalled November 21st
- November 19th: Assigned Jordan Mickey (4th) — Recalled November 25th
- November 19th: Assigned Terry Rozier (2nd) — Recalled November 21st
- November 27th: Assigned Jordan Mickey (5th) — Recalled December 9th
- December 4th: Assigned James Young (6th) — Recalled December 4th
- December 10th: Assigned Jordan Mickey (6th) — Recalled December 14th
- December 17th: Assigned Jordan Mickey (7th) — Recalled December 20th
- December 19th: Assigned Terry Rozier (3rd) — Recalled December 20th
- December 28th: Assigned Jordan Mickey (8th) — Recalled December 30th
- December 31st: Assigned Terry Rozier (4th) — Recalled January 1st
- December 31st: Assigned Jordan Mickey (9th) — Recalled January 13th
- December 31st: Assigned R.J. Hunter (1st) — Recalled January 1st
- January 2nd: Assigned Terry Rozier (5th) — Recalled January 13th
- January 15th: Assigned Jordan Mickey (10th) — Recalled January 18th
- January 15th: Assigned Terry Rozier (6th) — Recalled January 24th
- January 16th: Assigned R.J. Hunter (2nd) — Recalled January 24th
- January 23rd: Assigned James Young (7th) — Recalled January 24th
- February 25th: Assigned James Young (8th) — Recalled February 29th
- March 3rd: Assigned R.J. Hunter (3rd) — Recalled March 3rd
- March 4th: Assigned R.J. Hunter (4th) — Recalled March 7th
- March 8th: Assigned James Young (9th) — Recalled March 9th.
- March 10th: Assigned Jordan Mickey (11th) — Recalled March 11th.
- March 10th: Assigned James Young (10th) — Recalled March 13th
- March 10th: Assigned Coty Clarke (1st) — Recalled March 11th
- March 13th: Assigned Jordan Mickey (12th) — Recalled March 14th
- March 23rd: Assigned Coty Clarke (2nd) — Recalled March 26th
- March 23rd: Assigned James Young (11th) — Recalled March 26th
- March 30th: Assigned James Young (12th) — Recalled April 6th
- April 5th: Assigned Jordan Mickey (13th) — Recalled April 6th
- April 7th: Assigned James Young (13th) — Recalled April 8th
- April 7th: Assigned Jordan Mickey (14th) — Recalled April 8th
Here is how the Celtics’ players performed while on assignment to the D-League this season:
- Coty Clarke: The small forward appeared in a total of 44 games for the Red Claws on the year, a number that includes his outings prior to being inked by Boston. Clarke averaged 16.3 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists to accompany a shooting line of .513/.406/.792.
- R.J. Hunter: The shooting guard appeared in eight games for Maine and averaged 13.8 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 30.8 minutes per contest. His slash line was .359/.296/.741.
- Jordan Mickey: The power forward made 23 appearances for the Red Claws and averaged 17.4 points, 10.3 rebounds and 4.4 blocks in 33.4 minutes per contest. His shooting line was .531/.350/.745.
- Terry Rozier: The rookie point guard appeared in 14 games for Maine and averaged 19.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, 8.0 assists and 1.9 steals in 33.7 minutes per night. Rozier’s shooting line was .393/.338/.776.
- James Young: The swingman appeared in 14 games, notching averages of 15.3 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 28.3 minutes per outing. His slash line was .409/.350/.814.
Celtics Eye Al Horford
The Hawks plan to offer the maximum salary to Al Horford when he becomes a free agent this summer, as Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution confirmed on the CSNNE.com Celtics Talk podcast Thursday in advance of Atlanta’s first-round playoff series against Boston (audio link; scroll to 17:10 mark). That’s no surprise, though whether the Hawks are prepared to make a full five-year max offer to the big man who turns 30 in June remains to be seen.
Atlanta likes rim protection at the center position, but other teams like him for his floor-stretching capabilities, Vivlamore observes. Horford reportedly places a high priority on signing for five years, which he can only do with the Hawks, but just about every other team in the league is nonetheless eyeing him, Vivlamore says, mentioning the Cavaliers, Raptors and Celtics specifically. Vivlamore makes similar remarks in a video with CineSport’s Noah Coslov on the Journal-Constitution site.
Kings Eye Jay Larranaga For Head Coaching Job
WEDNESDAY, 11:53am: The Kings, poised to fire George Karl, will consider a group of candidates that includes David Blatt, Vinny Del Negro, Jeff Hornacek, Celtics assistant Jay Larranaga and Hawks assistant Kenny Atkinson, sources told Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical. Jeff Van Gundy, Tom Thibodeau and Scott Brooks, who frequently draw mention as top NBA coaching candidates, are uninterested in the job, as Wojnarowski hears from league sources.
Crowder Nearly Off-Limits For Trades
- The Magic insisted that the Celtics include Jae Crowder in a would-be deal when the sides discussed potential Tobias Harris trades before the deadline, and Orlando’s insistence on Crowder stopped the talks from going further, a league source told A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com. Crowder isn’t untouchable, but he’s close, a league executive whose team negotiated with the Celtics told Blakely.
C's Wouldn't Give Up Crowder In Talks With Bulls
- The Celtics refused to give up Jae Crowder in trade talks with the Bulls before the deadline, scuttling any realistic possibility of a trade, league sources tell Vincent Goodwill of CSN Chicago. Jimmy Butler‘s name reportedly was the center of those discussions, though Goodwill hears they spoke with teams about Derrick Rose and confirms earlier reports that they had Pau Gasol trade talks, too.
Terry Rozier Hopes Rebounding Will Earn Him Minutes
- Celtics rookie Terry Rozier has impressed many around the league with his rebounding ability and he hopes to garner more playing time from the exposure, Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com writes. “I think it’s a start. I think I can impact the game in a lot of ways and I appreciate a lot of people saying I’m getting better,” said Rozier. “I just feel I’m getting more comfortable. I know I’m capable of a lot of things [and] rebounding is definitely one of them. So if that’s going to help me get me in the game, help me with playing time, help this team out, then I’m all for it. It’s something that I’m always going to do, it’s an effort thing. It’s always going to be in me.” The 6’2″ point guard is averaging 1.6 rebounds in just 8.0 minutes per appearance on the campaign.
Celtics Sign John Holland
3:54pm: The signing has formally taken place, the team announced (Twitter link). Holland will see $9,266 this season, not including his playoff share, and a non-guaranteed $874,636 next season, provided he signed for the minimum, as is standard for midseason signees.
1:37pm: The deal would cover the rest of 2015/16 plus next season, and next season’s salary would be non-guaranteed, league sources tell Charania (Twitter link).
1:00pm: The Celtics plan to sign former Boston University swingman John Holland into their open roster spot, reports Shams Charania of The Vertical (Twitter link). The deal is contingent upon him passing a physical, notes Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe (on Twitter). The 27-year-old was with the Spurs in the 2014 preseason and has been playing with the D-League affiliate of the Cavaliers this season.
The contract would cover the playoffs, and the Celtics had a desire to carry a full 15-man roster in the postseason in case of injury, Himmelsbach tweets. Coach Brad Stevens said recently the team would prefer a versatile forward, seemingly a hint that former 10-day signee Coty Clarke might return, but instead the team is going with Holland, who is 6’5″ and can play two-guard and small forward but would be significantly undersized at power forward.
Holland averaged 16.0 points in 30.2 minutes per game with 36.9% shooting in 37 regular season appearances with the D-League Canton Charge this season, and he turned it up in two playoff games last week, making 10 of 17 total 3-point attempts and averaging 28.5 points.
It’s unclear whether the deal would carry into next season. Either way, he’d likely receive a prorated rookie minimum salary this season plus a share of the team’s playoff earnings.
Sixers Notes: Turner, Hinkie, Embiid, Colangelo
Ex-Sixer Evan Turner is defending former Philadelphia GM Sam Hinkie, who resigned Wednesday, writes Jay King of MassLive. Turner, now with the Celtics, spent nearly four years in Philadelphia before being traded to Indiana in 2014. He didn’t read Hinkie’s 13-page resignation letter but says he understood what the former executive was trying to accomplish. “One thing I didn’t know was [how well they’re set up for the draft],” Turner said. “That’s somewhat ingenious. That could set them up great for the future. It’s just in the NBA, I don’t know what he had with [76ers owner] Josh Harris, but typically jobs, unless you’re a legend, jobs don’t last seven or eight years for a plan. I think if it does work out then he did set them up great, you know?” Philadelphia, which has clinched the top spot in Hoops Rumors’ reverse standings, will have its own first-round pick in June, along with the Heat’s, the Thunder’s and the Lakers’ if it falls out of the top three.
There’s more this morning out of Philadelphia:
- Turner still believes great things are ahead for Sixers center Joel Embiid, King writes in the same piece. Philadelphia took Embiid third overall in the 2014 draft, but a string of injuries has prevented him from playing. Calling him possibly the “next [Hakeem] Olajuwon,” Turner recalls watching Embiid in an early workout. “The kid went in-between-the-legs dunk at 7-feet,” Turner said. “Bigs are hard to find. That coordination, and I’ve seen him hit 15 straight threes from the top [of the arc]. Hopefully it works out for him because I’ve got so much respect for [76ers head coach] Brett [Brown], I’ve got so much respect for the staff that works there, and when Philly gets going like in the [Allen] Iverson days it can be a special city.”
- The risks that Hinkie took were worthwhile, argues Derek Bodner of Philadelphia magazine. While acknowledging the potential downside of Hinkie’s moves, Bodner contends Embiid could be the Sixers’ best center since Moses Malone and Nerlens Noel is the team’s best interior defender since Dikembe Mutombo. In addition, Philadelphia has a 50-50 shot at landing a top two draft pick and selecting Ben Simmons or Brandon Ingram.
- Despite charges of nepotism, likely new GM Bryan Colangelo has a solid record, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Pompey notes that Colangelo is a two-time Executive of the Year who has a history of making aggressive moves.
Celtics Recall Mickey, Young From D-League
- The Celtics have recalled power forward Jordan Mickey and swingman James Young from their D-League affiliate, the team announced. There will be no more treks to Maine on the season for the pair since the Red Claws have been eliminated from the D-League playoffs, Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com notes (via Twitter).